UPDATED: Fox Brings Soros Paranoia To Wal-Mart Labor Protests

Fox News is harping on the right-wing myth that philanthropist George Soros is behind MoveOn.org to falsely accuse him of directing people to protest at Wal-Mart on Black Friday, the busy shopping day after Thanksgiving.

Many Wal-Mart employees and their allies have been protesting over labor conditions at Wal-Mart and are planning to do so again on Black Friday. While MoveOn did send an email urging recipients to support the Black Friday protests, it asked them to sign a petition, not attend the events, and MoveOn says that Soros made only one donation to the organization in 2004.

Discussing the subject on America Live, Fox business contributor Stuart Varney claimed that "George Soros, through MoveOn.org, has sent out an email nationwide urging everybody who has an interest in this to turn up at a Wal-Mart on Friday and demonstrate."

According to MoveOn, Soros has not contributed to the organization in more than eight years, since he made a donation in 2004 to an election-related initiative that no longer exists.

MoveOn's email encouraging people to sign the petition supporting the protesters contains no mention of Soros. Varney's statement echoes a claim in a Daily Caller article that quotes portions of the MoveOn email. Like Varney, the Daily Caller failed to support its assertion that Soros is involved.

The right-wing media have mounted an endless effort to demonize Soros, a financier who has donated to liberal causes.

UPDATE: The Daily Caller has updated its article by removing all references to Soros. At the bottom of the story, it has added this correction:

An earlier version of this story connected the liberal financier George Soros with MoveOn.org. Soros was a major contributor to one of MoveOn's political organizations more than six years ago, but does not appear connected to its current Wal-Mart protests.

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EmilyArrowood
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Emily Arrowood is an Associate Research Director at Media Matters. Previously, she worked for the Democratic National Committee. She graduated magna cum laude in Political Science from the University of Tennessee and attended Vanderbilt University Law School.